As the title suggests, 'Motherfoclóir' takes an irreverent, pun-friendly and contemporary approach to the Irish language. The translations are expanded on and arranged into broad categories that allow interesting connections to be made, and sprinkled with anecdotes and observations about Irish and Ireland itself, as well as language in general. The author includes stories about his own relationship with Irish, and how it fits in with the most important events in his life. This is a book for all lovers of the quirks of language.

     Based on linguistic science and proven techniques, this book guides you through a series of Chapters taking 5-10 minutes each, progressively introducing new characters and pronunciation rules so you come away reading 9 words of Korean in 60 minutes. Set your stopwatch, progress through the lessons, and come away reading Korean in less than the time it takes to watch a movie. Leave your time in the comments as a review to prove the skeptics wrong! More than 10 thousand students have learned to read Korean with us, and now it’s your turn. • 5 Chapters: 5036 words, additional review exercises, bonus notes, mneomnic devices and full explanations • Free Online Learning: Blog posts, vocabulary, and lessons at www.90daykorean.com/blog To learn more visit 90daykorean.com. WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS ARE SAYING: “I'm just soooooooooooooo thankful! You're AMAZING! The challenge was incredible. I never thought that learning Hangul was so easy! -Sarah Son, France" THE 90 DAY KOREAN SATISFACTION GUARANTEE: Feel confident with a 100% Satisfaction Guarantee backed for 30 days. If you are not happy with the guide, simply contact us for a full refund. WANT AN EASIER WAY TO READ KOREAN? EASILY MEMORIZE, GET PAST YOUR STICKING POINTS, STOP USING ROMANIZATION, SPEED UP YOUR STUDIES, AND GET STARTED LEARNING KOREAN by adding the new book "Learn to READ KOREAN: The Ultimate Crash Course to LEARNING HANGUL Through Psychological Associations to your bookshelf TODAY!

    

    This introductory course includes an audio CD with practice dialogues-just the ticket for readers who need basic Russian for business, school, or travel.Serafima Gettys, PhD (Newark, CA), is Coordinator of the Foreign Language Program at Lewis University.Andrew Kaufman, PhD (Charlottesville, VA), is a Visiting Assistant Professor at the University of Virginia.Note: CD-ROM/DVD and other supplementary materials are not included as part of eBook file.

    This edition contains four new cultural collages which trace four topics, such as "The City", up to the present day. An accompanying audiotape for instructors is also available.

    As useful as it is fascinating, it's a book any new or aspiring Japanese language scholar will visit over and over. In clear, large-sized entries, A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters details each of the General Use Characters In clear, large-sized entires, A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters details each of the General Use Characters—the 1,945 characters prescribed by the Japanese Ministry of Education for everyday use. Both Japanese readings and English meanings are given, along with stroke-count and stroke-order, examples of usage, and suggestions for memorizing. The components of each character are detailed. The Japanese kanji are graded according to Ministry of Education guidelines, allowing the student to prioritize them and track progress. It will appeal to students seeking to learn kanji as well as Japanese language enthusiasts who want to know the history and etymology of Japanese kanji. This book includes:Origins and meanings of over 2,000 characters.Beautifly hand–drawn kanji.Additional compound characters for each featured character.valuable suggestions and mnemonic devices for memorizing characters.All the standard characters official designed for common use.Comprehensive and clear, A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters makes Japanese writing accessible to everyone wishing to learn Japanese.

    Power. Sex appeal. Wealth. What does the sound of your name say about you? How do these syllables affect not only your self-image but, even more importantly, the expectations that others have of you? The Secret Universe of Names explains, in fascinating detail and name-by-name example (over 10,000 names), how the sound of a name evokes basic, gut reactions, and what this means for you and yours. Why are people whose names begin with the letter J 250 per cent more likely to become millionaires than people with names beginning with the letter N? Why are I people becoming doctors at four times the rate of O people? Why do the Keiths of the business world statistically outperform the Nigels by almost 300 per cent? What mechanisms explain why the name Emma evokes stronger romantic feelings than the name Kate?

    Almost automatically you will acquire a large working vocabulary that will suit your needs. As you work through the steps, use the sticky labels (included). At the back of the book, you will also find cut-out flash cards to make learning fun. When you have completed the book, cut out the menu at the back and take it along on your trip. Available in 11 languages.

    It examines the independent development of linguistic science in China and Medieval Islam, and especially in India, which was to have a profound effect on European and American linguistics from the end of the eighteenth century.The fourth edition of A Short History of Linguistics gives a greater prominence to the work of Wilhelm von Humboldt, because of the lasting importance of his work on language in relation to general eighteenth century thinking and of its perceived relevance in the latter half of the twentieth century to several aspects of generative grammatical theory. The final section, covering the twentieth century, has been rewritten and divided into two new chapters, so as to deal effectively with the increasingly divergent development of descriptive and theoretical linguistics that took place in the latter half of this century.Readable and authoritative, Professor Robins' introduction provides a clear and up-to-date overview of all the major issues in the light of contemporary scholarly debate, and will be essential reading for undergraduate and graduate students of linguistics alike.

    English is a glorious mess of a language, cobbled together from a wide variety of sources and syntaxes, and changing over time with popular usage. Many of the words and usages we embrace as standard and correct today were at first considered slang, impolite, or just plain wrong. Filled with historic and contemporary examples, the book chronicles the long and entertaining history of language mistakes, and features some of our most common words and phrases. This is a book that will settle arguments among word lovers—and it’s sure to start a few, too.

    GET D!RTYNext time you’re traveling or just chattin’ in German with your friends, drop the textbook formality and bust out with expressions they never teach you in school, including:•Cool slang•Funny insults•Explicit sex terms•Raw swear wordsDirty German teaches the casual expressions heard every day on the streets of Germany:•What's up?Wie geht's?•I'm smashed.Ich bin total angeschickert.•Fuckin' Munich fans.Scheiß München Fans.•That shit reeks.Das riecht aber übel.•I wanna shag ass.Ich will abhauen.•What a complete asshole.Was für ein Arschloch.•Dude, you're built like Arnold!Mensch, du bist der Arnie!

    From the first descent of the larynx into the throat (why you can talk but your dog can't), to the fine lost art of swearing, Bryson tells the fascinating, often uproarious story of an inadequate, second-rate tongue of peasants that developed into one of the world's largest growth industries.

    Stephen King, Hemingway, Vonnegut, and Orwell detest it. Herman Melville, Henry James, and Rebecca Solnit love it. But why? When is it effective? Have we been misusing it? Should we even care?In Semicolon, Cecelia Watson charts the rise and fall of this infamous punctuation mark, which for years was the trendiest one in the world of letters. But in the nineteenth century, as grammar books became all the rage, the rules of how we use language became both stricter and more confusing, with the semicolon a prime victim. Taking us on a breezy journey through a range of examples—from Milton’s manuscripts to Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letters from Birmingham Jail” to Raymond Chandler’s The Big Sleep—Watson reveals how traditional grammar rules make us less successful at communicating with each other than we’d think. Even the most die-hard grammar fanatics would be better served by tossing the rule books and learning a better way to engage with language.Through her rollicking biography of the semicolon, Watson writes a guide to grammar that explains why we don’t need guides at all, and refocuses our attention on the deepest, most primary value of language: true communication.

    Since the age of Shakespeare, arguments over correct usage have been bitter, and have always really been about contesting values—morality, politics, and class. The Language Wars examines the present state of the conflict, its history, and its future. Above all, it uses the past as a way of illuminating the present. Moving chronologically, the book explores the most persis­tent issues to do with English and unpacks the history of “proper†us­age. Where did these ideas spring from? Who has been on the front lines in the language wars?The Language Wars examines grammar rules, regional accents, swearing, spelling, dictionaries, political correctness, and the role of electronic media in reshaping language. It also takes a look at such de­tails as the split infinitive, elocution, and text messaging. Peopled with intriguing characters such as Jonathan Swift, Lewis Carroll, and Lenny Bruce, The Language Wars is an essential volume for anyone interested in the state of the English language today or its future.

    I say potahtoAnd--wait a second, no one says potahto. No one's ever said potahto.Have they?From reconstructing Shakespeare's accent to the rise and fall of Received Pronunciation, actor Ben Crystal and his linguist father David travel the world in search of the stories of spoken English.Everyone has an accent, though many of us think we don't. We all have our likes and dislikes about the way other people speak, and everyone has something to say about 'correct' pronunciation. But how did all these accents come about, and why do people feel so strongly about them? Are regional accents dying out as English becomes a global language? And most importantly of all: what went wrong in Birmingham?Witty, authoritative and jam-packed full of fascinating facts, You Say Potato is a celebration of the myriad ways in which the English language is spoken - and how our accents, in so many ways, speak louder than words.